THE
P RTAL
July 2012
Page 9
The Ordinary’s Page
Monsignor John Broadhurst,
Assistant to the Ordinary, writes
Anyone who has experience of Church
finances knows that money is always a
problem. Very few Churches record
a surplus at the end of the year, and
some even incur a loss. They would
go under - financially speaking - but
for the generosity of their members.
Diverse Groups
For an organisation like the
Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady
of Walsingham, finance was always
going to be a problem. We are new. It
was just eighteen months ago that we
began.
We have groups scattered all
over the country. Some are
large, a few, what one might
call “middling size”, most
are, by Catholic standards,
small.
Our eighty priests all have
different needs. Some need a full stipend,
others only require a part of a stipend,
others are retired yet still need expenses
and training costs to be paid. Some
have had housing provided by a
generous Diocese, some have their
own house. What is certain is that
without proper finance, we will
not be able to continue.
Some Churches arrange their
finances in such a way that each
Parish or Group is responsible for
raising their own money and indeed
for spending it. This is not how the
Catholic Church arranges its finance.
The finance of the Catholic Church is
arranged along Christian Principles.
Solidarity and Subsidiarity
The two key words are Solidarity and Subsidiarity.
Solidarity because we are all in this together. The
Ordinariate has one Bank account, each group having a
sub-section of that one account. Thus
if one group struggles financially,
the ones who are better off are on
hand to help and support,if only
by keeping the account from
going into deficit.
Subsidiarity because as far as
possible, all decisions are taken
at the lowest level possible. Each
parish or Group strives to be self-
supporting, yet receives help from
the whole where required.
Committed to the project
Often people ask the
questions, “What is in this
for us? What do we get out
of it?”These are the wrong
questions. We must all be
committed to the project
that is the Ordinariate for we
are all in this together. Our
finances are not arranged so
that each Group is pitted against another.
Our finances are arranged so that we all
support each other and the centre and
so the whole. In that sense it is “our”
Ordinariate.
There are no reserves. There is
no pot of gold in the sky. We stand
or fall on our own. Each of us,
individuals and groups, should
give what can be afforded to fulfil
our mission.
Someone reminded me recently
that there are about fifty million people
in these Islands who know not the Lord
Jesus. Our mission, should we choose to
accept it, is to tell them about the wonders of
the Gospel and the Catholic Church.
The simple fact is, this costs money. Please do you
best to support your local Group and to support the
centre, for it is our Ordinariate.